Marushin 6mm FN Five-Seven

[zentaurus]

It is definitely not a TM . . . . . it is not even a KSC . . . . but it is the only Five-seveN in town. And to match the anticipation it created, this treasure box unpeels like an onion.

 

 

After you peel off the box layers and put the accompanying manual, Marushin catalog, bb pack, push rod, and small allen key aside, this is what you get . . .

 

right side:

 

 

left side:

 

 

and a built-in rail as well as the usual ambidextrous fire selector lever, takedown lever, and slide release lever:

 

 

Disassembly is a bit unusual -- you pull the slide rearward until you hear the hammer click into firing position and then push that white vertical tab on the frame till you hear a disengagement click. Then push the slide forward. When you feel the slide disengage from the frame, you can pull the slide up for field disassembly. The process is described in the accompanying manual which is in Japanese.

 

 

These pics really do not do justice to the quality of the build -- it is very good overall despite the minimal metal parts and a very plasticky feel to the pistol. As a consequence of minimal metal parts, it feels very light in the hand. Despite the crisp blowback action, you do not get the klik-klaks of metal to metal interaction and the satisfying feeling of your palm being slapped back.

Edited February 21, 2008 by zentaurus

[zentaurus]

The Marushin Five-seveN magazine has a distinctive orange insert for the gas flow outlet . . .

 

 

 

. . . uses a fixed guide bar instead of a barrel guide rod -- another distinctive feature --

 

 

and features the infamous LD2 system which uses a second, fixed hop up.

 

 

Like the HK USPs and the Mk23, this Five-seveN uses a barrel o-ring to stabilize the locked barrel. It is, however, a very thin o-ring.

 

 

The rear right is adjustable for both elevation and drift . . .

 

 

Another distinctive feature is the Marushin Industries trademark on the pistol grip panels:

 

 

Marushin can be forgiven for doing this, imho, cos the symbol is very similar to the FN trademark Besides, it has taken care to give the buyer the expected FN trades.

 

 

Don't have a chrono ... (yet ) . . . but Redwolf says 240fps. Subjectively, it feels lower in power compared to my other GBBs. Shooting at dense foam packaging bits I had lying around produced satisfying thwacks with some bbs successfully embedding themselves into the foam.

 

My first target shooting results were very unsatisfactory. Although there were sighting marks engraved on the front sight blade and on the sides of the rear sight ramp, these were not painted a distinguishing color and that lack really made getting the right sight picture a chore. A bit of tweaking with the elevation produced these results:

 

 

Of 10 shots with black .2g ICS Competition Grade bbs at 15', six got into the black center. The four outflyers were probably due to operator error -- he was concentrating more on feeling for the blowback rather than on maintaining the right sight picture. That, of course, added to the inherent inaccuracy of the 2nd LD2 hopup.

The magazine is metal. Like a well-used KSC Mk23, it will activate the slide release lever if you slap it in too smartly. Like the old TM M92FS, there is a bit of mag cooldown, especially after rapid firing.

 

Trigger pull was a bit too long, especially when compared to that of the TM 1911 Government. Trigger break, which is a bit heavy, comes right after the audible trigger reset. Like the KSC Mark 23, fast and successive double taps sometimes resulted in weak shots.

 

Pointability was poor. Most of the weight sits on the shooting hand. Good and crisp recoil action tends to bring the muzzle up and, since the only counterweight is the metal guide bar, it takes constant concentration to keep the front sight blade on target.

 

Overall, i would give the Marushin Five-seveN 8.0 - 8.5 out of 10 -- and that's given with a bit of generosity

 

1. the build is good but there's too much that's plastic instead of metal -- (grrrr).

 

2. the blowback action is crisp but you can hardly feel it because of the lack of metal parts. and you can hardly hear the sound that normally accompanies gas expansion in the good GBBs.

 

3. accuracy is so so but not bad.

 

4. gas economy is a bit below current TM standard.

 

5. the mag can only load 18 shots max (or 19 with one in the chamber) -- why oh why didn't Marushin find a way to have 20 just like the RS?

 

But my satisfaction factor is 10x -- because it is my long-awaited Five-Seven!! Until the TM version arrives there's no option except to live with all its quirks and warts.

[zentaurus]

After a month or so of thinking and some research, I've decided that these plastic cylinders that came with the Marushin Five-seveN package . . .

 

 

 

. . . were really meant to function as buffer tubes. But they seemed too hard for that purpose so I replaced them with foam cutouts.

 

 

No discernable difference in performance that I can see, however . . . . . . so I could have guessed wrong. Suggestions welcome.

 

(Yes, I've gone to the Marushin site and found no additional info. )

 

Also painted the sight points to ease target acquisition.

 

 

Will see how things turn out over the next few months

Edited February 21, 2008 by zentaurus

[Utty]

Overall, i would give the Marushin Five-seveN 8.0 - 8.5 out of 10 -- and that's given with a bit of generosity

Seems a bit too generous to me.

[zentaurus]

urmmm . . . it's well made? and has good trades?

 

bad performance, yes, but i'm a fan

Edited February 22, 2008 by zentaurus

[Utty]

I like how Marushin lists the flaws right on the box:

 

LD-2 system

Eighteen round capacity

Blue letter limited edition

Super surprised Kick

 

At least Mr. Marushin is honest - or possibly just insane.

[zentaurus]

ha ha ha . . . to that i heartily agree. the insane part, that is. either that or quintessentially japanese

 

oops . . . and don't forget the "Real Indicator" which is non-existent. painted the top of the hammer to make it workable -- somehat

Edited February 22, 2008 by zentaurus

[poison123]

Seems a bit too generous to me.

 

 

I had mine all of a week....its a POS. I'd give it a 2 or 3 at best. No where near a 8 for sure.

[AliceHKfan]

The [/b]magazine is metal. Like a well-used KSC Mk23, it will activate the slide release lever if you slap it in too smartly. Like the old TM M92FS, there is a bit of mag cooldown, especially after rapid firing.

 

 

The real Mk23 and USP both share that "feature"

[Sale]

Quite a lot of real pistols release the slide when you slap the magazine in. Glocks even have a mention about it in the manual.

 

-Sale

[zentaurus]

thanks for those info, alice and sale

 

its actually a good "feature" that's very useful when changing mags in a "situation," i've found. have only handled the RS 1911 so i didn't know it's also present in some RS guns.

 

... snip ... I'd give it a 2 or 3 at best. No where near a 8 for sure.

 

i respect that, but . . . you have to give Marushin at least a 5 just for the quality build and the trades

 

cheers,

 

zT

Edited February 26, 2008 by zentaurus

[1st_shooter]

I found that feature on my KSC USP.45 i really liked the way it cocked after a mag went it. I have owned two ksc's and they both did it from the day i bought them new so i assume they are built to do that?

And nice review dude, Im still gonna get one!

[zentaurus]

thanks and welcome to the Five-seveN club

 

glad to hear the KSC USP 45 has it too. will get one soon as i locate a local supplier for the full-metal version. i like the "feature" too and may have made a point in my review since i've never seen it mentioned before.

 

[TooBigToFit]

Isn't it supposed to be plasticky? Don't see what can be metal.

 

Oh and I love that "feature" (which is noted in real HK manuals as a safety hazard).

 

Thank for the review though, there's very little info about this Marushin. I hate the blue lettering. And the lack of parts (specifically, a threaded barrel).

[AliceHKfan]

I found that feature on my KSC USP.45 i really liked the way it cocked after a mag went it. I have owned two ksc's and they both did it from the day i bought them new so i assume they are built to do that?

And nice review dude, Im still gonna get one!

 

 

I think its called "Universal Self-Loading Pistol" for a reason